Football is back which means one very important thing….gambling on football is back! The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are getting ready for their first game of the year and there are a lot of very interesting bets in this one. I have chosen my five favorites for you here today.
Feel free to pick and choose which ones you like or you can be like me and parlay them all together. However you want to play it, just do so responsibly. With that said, here is my week one Big Bucs gambling guild.
Buccaneers Moneyline +168
You could be safe here and take the Bucs to cover the 3.5 point spread for -105, but if you are like me I like this team to go on the road and win this game. Most of the matchups favor Tampa on the field. They also have a coaching matchup with Todd Bowles being one of the best week one coaches in the NFL (6-2 overall) and Bengals coach Zac Taylor being one of the worst (2-5).
The Bengals are the home team and their star players quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase have an advantage over the Bucs cornerbacks, so I understand why they are getting points here. But no matter how I slice it, the Buccaneers are the better team here and I expect them to win. I’ll take plus odds on that every time.
Ted Hurst anytime touchdown +500
The loss of Mike Evans in the offseason has been well documented. This will come as a loss to the Buccaneers offense, especially in the red zone. Few players in NFL history have been better than Evans in terms of finding the end zone.
The man who will try to fill those shoes is rookie Ted Hurst. Hurst brings good size at 6’3 and a great catch radius. And with so many other weapons on the Bucs offense, I don’t think he’ll draw a ton of additional attention from the defense. I expect the first of many touchdowns for “Deadman” Hurst on Sunday.
Baker Mayfield Over 1.5 passing touchdowns -108
The Bucs have one of the better offensive lines in the NFL. A huge part of getting back to the playoffs this year will be reviving their rushing offense. This will open everything else up throw the air.
Despite such a good offensive line, the Bucs aren’t really a physically imposing rush attack. I think they end up throwing a lot of touchdowns this season because they don’t have that big body short yardage back. So against a defense that doesn’t impress me, I like Mayfield to throw for a couple touchdowns in this one.
Bucky Irving Over 13.5 receiving yards -114
New offensive coordinator Zac Robinson wants to get back to a lot of what this team was doing in 2024. A lot of short to intermediate level passes as opposed to deep shots. This is what suits his quarterback and pass catchers best.
During his time in Atlanta, we saw him utilize a lot of passes to running backs. We’ve also seen a lot of screen passes from this offense in the preseason. I expect Irving to get a handful of targets in this game and I trust that one of the most elusive running backs in the NFL can reach 14 receiving yards in this game….especially vs linebackers who aren’t that great.
Chase Brown Under 57.5 rushing yards -114
The Buccaneers made a big investment in their front seven this offseason. They added A’Shawn Robinson and Rueben Bain to the defensive line as well as Alex Anzalone and Josiah Trotter to be starting linebackers. It’s a front seven that is very talented, especially when it comes to stopping the run.
So do I think Brown will reach 58 yards against this defense when he has only hit that total in 56% of his career starts? No, I don’t. Especially when you consider that this game has the makings of a shootout and Burrow will probably have to throw a lot to keep them in the game.
Total Parlay +4148
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